“Shave brush” or “shaving brush” are terms used to describe a small brush, such as that shown in FIG. 1, with a handle 102 coupled to the base of a set of bristles 104. The shaving brush's bristles 104 are used to transfer shaving cream to a user's face or other body parts just prior to the use of a razor.
Typically, a user grasps the handle 102 and uses it to dip the bristles 104 into an amount of shaving cream and then applies it to the face or other area to be shaved. Alternatively, the user vigorously works the bristles 104 into an amount of soap and then applies the resulting foam to the face or other area to be shaved. Advantageously, the handle 102 allows the user to apply the shaving cream without it making contact with the user's hand. Unfortunately, the process of using a shaving brush is somewhat messy as the user must dispense an amount of shaving cream into a container of sufficient size for the user to be able to dip the brush bristles 104 into the cream. After shaving, the container must then be cleaned to remove the shaving cream or foaming soap.
Some entities have attempted to alleviate the steps of first, dispensing the shaving cream into the container and second, having to clean the container. Two such proposed solutions are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,653,090 and 6,003,523, which both provide a shaving brush with a vertical bore that extends centrally through the body of the brush handle, The vertical bore forms a passageway for the delivery of shaving cream through the brush structure and receives the shaving cream from the valve orifice of a standard-sized pressurized shaving cream container. “Standard-sized,” as used herein, indicates a container, e.g., a can, having an outer diameter of about 2.75″ or more and a length of about 6″. By bringing the handle in contact with the container, the container's valve is actuated and shaving cream is delivered through the passageway and into the bristles. However, the devices described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,653,090 and 6,003,523 suffer from the disadvantage of having to be placed in contact with the standard-sized pressurized shaving-cream container each time shaving cream is required at the brush. This contact may be necessary two or more times during a single shave. In addition, because the backside, i.e., the side opposite the bristles, is exposed to air, shaving cream within the passageway has a tendency to dry within and block the passageway from further delivery of shaving cream. For this reason, the device in U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,090 requires a separate stand with a stem that must be inserted within the passageway and stored in conjunction with the shaving brush. The stand presents an extra costly part to manufacture and ship and is an extra. object for the user to keep track of.
Examples of other devices that have attempted to correct the problems shared by the two-part solutions taught by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,653,090 and 6,003,523 are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,388,958, 4,252,455, and 4,603,992. Each of these devices couples a shaving brush to the upper portion of a standard-sized pressurized shaving-cream container, By coupling the brush to the shaving-cream container, each of these solutions eliminates the disadvantages described in the preceding paragraph, where the brush needs to be repeatedly placed in contact with the container. However, each of these solutions also disadvantageously results in a brush with a large container affixed to the brush. This large and relatively heavy container must be manipulated as the user is applying shaving cream to their face or other body part. Moving the large can and brush feels very bulky and unnatural. In addition, because the brush is affixed to the upper portion of the full-size shaving-cream container, the device is rather tall and is not easy to store in a typical medicine cabinet or drawer.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.